Playing outside the box.

This article deals with three major instances in the history of the lego company. First, it investigates the transference from wood to plastics as the main material used in creating lego toys, and also the innovations in plastic molding machines that influenced the interlocking mechanism of the lego bricks. Second, this article deals with a rather unfortunate episode from the lego history, namely, the period between the late 1990s and the early twenty-first century when the lego company felt the need to extend its brand image through diversifying its product range. Unfortunately, this led to a confusing, rather than a strong brand image and resulted in heavy financial losses in 2003 and 2004. Third, this article looks into recent attempts by the lego company to bring the fans into the company in order to revive the lego brand and its products. This part focuses on mindstorms 2.0 and mindstorms nxt, especially, in order to illustrate the increase in user involvement in lego product development.